Abortion

Of the million or so women who have abortions every year in the U.S., nearly a quarter end their pregnancy using medications. But just as states have been passing a record number of restrictions on surgical abortion, more are trying to limit this option as well.

One of the country's strictest laws is in Ohio. To understand it, a little history helps.

This week, Congress returns with House leaders vowing to revisit the anti-abortion bill they pulled off the floor last week. The ban on abortions after 20 weeks was withdrawn when it appeared there weren't enough Republican votes to pass it.

Why did it need quite so many Republican votes? Because the GOP can no longer count on a contingent of Democrats to help out on abortion-related votes.

AUSTIN — George P. Bush and Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott made a large anti-abortion rally at the Capitol on Saturday their first headlining events of 2015 as the two political newcomers from familiar Republican families begin putting different faces on Texas conservatism.

The front-and-center billing given to Abbott, less than a week after husband Greg Abbott was sworn in as governor, added to expectations that she could have a more public presence than her predecessor, Anita Perry, who largely avoided the spotlight during her 14 years in the governor's mansion.

On Thursday, as thousands of people gathered at the National Mall for the annual anti-abortion March For Life, on this 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the House Republicans pushed through a move, 239 to 179, that would bar the use of taxpayer money to pay for abortions. It is likely to meet resistance in the Senate, and definitely faces a White House veto.
Late Wednesday night, House Republicans leaders had canceled a vote on a more comprehensive bill that would have made most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy illegal. That bill had clauses objected to by women in the GOP itself. They said the bill did not do enough to protect rape victims.

Opening arguments began Wednesday in the case against the Texas law requiring abortion clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgery centers. Opponents say it would have the effect of closing a significant number of the state's clinics. Melissa Block talks to Carrie Feibel of Houston Public Media.